Your Uncle's Nephew
by TheresaUS
Summary: Next part of my summer series (following "A Stranger in a Small Town") where Luke and Jess have a vistor.
1. The Call

Author's Note: This story follows "A Stranger in a Small Town" in my little sequence of summer fanfiction. Please, read it, and the two stories leading up to it ("Yes, I know" and "Before She Goes") before reading this. 

Disclaimer: The characters and settings belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino, but the story is original and mine.

S 

Although Luke noticed when Lorelai never came into the diner for breakfast, he didn't say anything. He didn't say anything when she didn't come in for lunch or afternoon coffee, but he did notice. 

But that evening, when she didn't come in for her usual hamburger, he knew something was wrong.

"Hello, Luke!" Miss Patty said as she came into the diner. He brought a mug and coffeepot over to her table. 

"Hey, Patty, you usually know what's going on," Luke said as he poured the coffee. "Have you seen Lorelai around?"

Miss Patty frowned. "Oh, you didn't know?"

"Know what?" Luke asked quickly, suddenly worried that Lorelai or Rory were hurt. 

"She left town," Miss Patty explained, but forced herself to continue when Luke didn't leave the table. "With that dark haired man."

"She left town…with that guy?" Luke asked slowly.

"I heard from Sookie that she'll only be gone a week," Miss Patty added, hoping Luke wouldn't continue to look so shocked. "Are you going to be alright, dear?"

"Oh, yeah. I was just, you know, wondering," Luke said, backing away. "Can I get you anything?"

"A piece of apple pie."

He half smiled. "You got it."

When Luke came up into the apartment that evening, he saw Jess sitting at the kitchen table, writing in a notebook and holding a book open with his other hand.

"Studying?" Luke asked harshly as he opened the fridge.

"That what this is?" Jess asked with a hint of sarcasm, glancing over at his uncle.

"What is this?" Luke said disgustedly, pulling out a Tupperware dish. "I thought you were going to clean the fridge."

Jess dropped his pen on his paper. "I come down to work in the diner, and you tell me to get up here and study. I study and you tell me to do chores. What do you want me to do?" he asked tiredly.

Luke took a deep breath to keep from yelling. "I want you to go to the market and get us some decent food." He watched Jess stand up and walk towards the apartment door. "And you better be back in twenty minutes!"

Jess shot a glare towards Luke. "What's your problem today? Did you girlfriend leave town or something?" Jess had slammed the door behind him before Luke could respond.

Jess had seen Dean bagging groceries at the checkout when he walked into Doose's, but pretended not to notice or care. He really didn't care. Dean was just another tall, jersey-guy that embodied the mediocrity of suburbia. The only difference was that he was Rory's jersey-guy.

Jess was surprised that Dean hadn't confronted him about the car accident yet, but figured Rory had talked him out of it. At times, Jess felt like going up to Dean and bringing it up but knew that wouldn't resolve the situation. Whatever 'the situation' was.

As Jess was deciding which cereal to buy, he could see Dean walking over in the corner of his eye. "Can I help you?" Jess asked without looking at Dean.

"You're in my way," Dean said flatly. Jess glanced over and saw him holding a box of goods to be stocked. "Do you mind?"

"Not really," Jess replied, examining the nutrition content of Wheaties.

"Why can't you just act like a decent person for once?" Dean snapped.

Finally, a confrontation, Jess thought and turned to look at Dean. "I'm not hurting anyone, you know. I just want to have a well balanced breakfast."

"You're such a jerk," Dean said, shaking his head.

"Well, I'm not the one throwing out insults in the breakfast aisle," Jess noted.

"I think you shouldn't come in here again. I'm sure Taylor would agree with me."

"Fine. I'll just pay for these and be on my way." Jess walked past Dean.

"Have you heard from Rory?"

Jess stopped and turned back around. "No…why?"

Dean looked somewhat mournful as he spoke. "I haven't either." They shared a brief look, which hinted at an understanding. But without another word, Dean was stocking the shelves and Jess was paying for his groceries.

Luke was standing behind the counter when Jess walked in carrying grocery bags. He looked at his watch. "You took thirty six minutes."

Jess rolled his eyes as he walked towards the apartment stairs. "Gee, I just had a heck of a time finding some ripe peaches."

Once Jess was upstairs, Luke sighed tiredly and began putting up chairs. He was not cut out for parenting. Perhaps he would be if the responsibility of disciplining a seventeen-year-old criminal hadn't been thrust upon him. It was probably easier to start off the way most people did, with an infant, and figure it out as they went along. 

But, even if Jess still had no respect for Luke, he wasn't behaving as recklessly as before. He was doing well in summer school, even if Luke had to walk him to the high school every day to make sure he actually went inside. And Luke had to admit, it was hilarious to watch Taylor watch Jess, waiting for him to screw up, and then throw a fit when Jess kept minding his own business.

Luke decided that he wasn't doing a terrible job with Jess. But also, in the back of his mind, Luke acknowledged that this change had less to do with Luke's superior parenting skills and more to do with a girl. Still, Luke would take what he could get.

Jess closed the refrigerator door once all the groceries were inside. He glanced back at his notebook, and sat back down to continue writing. The phone rang, and Jess reached over casually to pick up, without looking up from his paper.

"Yeah?"

There was a pause. "Um, hi."

It was a woman. Quickly, the first person Jess thought of was Rory. He realized that it wasn't Rory's voice, but hearing a girl on the phone made him wonder if she was ever going to call. Doubtfully, if she hadn't called her own boyfriend by now.

"Is Luke there?" the woman asked with uncertainty.

Jess quickly became disinterested in whoever it was. "He's downstairs. Do you want me to get him?"

"Um, I don't—I'm sorry, who is this?"

"Who's this?" Jess asked rudely.

"This is Rachel, I'm an old friend of Luke's."

"Luke doesn't have friends, even old ones."

She laughed lightly and quickly. "Well, I'm someone he used to know."

Jess looked up when he saw Luke come in the apartment door.

"Hey, what did I say about the phone?" Luke asked harshly. 

"Relax, it's for you," Jess responded as he held out the phone. "Someone named Rachel." Jess noticed Luke's jaw drop a little, and he paused before taking the phone. "What?" Jess asked.

Luke took the phone and covered the mouthpiece. "Nothing. Go to you room."

"I'm working here!" Jess exclaimed, indicating his books.

"Jess!"

"Fine." He gathered his things quickly and walked into his bedroom, slamming the door.

Luke shook his head a little, then remembered Rachel was on the line for him. He put the phone to his ear.

"-you still there?" he heard her voice asked.

"Rachel, hi," Luke said. 

"Hi. Is it too late?"

"Too late?" Luke repeated, wondering what she meant.

"To call."

"Oh, no. I was just closing the diner."

"Yeah, I figured you'd be home…who was that?"

"Oh, my nephew, Jess, you remember."

"Oh, right. Wow, how old is he now?"

"Almost eighteen."

"Boy, that makes me feel old," Rachel laughed, and Luke smiled. Hearing Rachel laugh was so comforting. "Is he visiting?"

"Um, no, he's kind of living here."

Rachel hesitated. "Really?"

"Yeah, Liz thought he needed to get out of the city. It's been okay."

"That's…nice of you. To take him in."

"I guess," Luke admitted, but then there was a pause. "So-"

"I know this is totally out of the blue, but I've been thinking about you a lot recently," Rachel blurted out. "Is Lorelai there?"

Luke scoffed a little. "Why would Lorelai be here?" He quickly remembered why Rachel had left. "Oh."

"So she's not there?" Rachel asked again.

"No. We're just friends."

Rachel sighed. "You never told her?"

"There was nothing to tell."

"You were always a terrible liar."

"Is there something I can do for you?" Luke asked impatiently.

"Well, I was thinking of…stopping by for a few days before I leave for Brazil. But I wanted to check with you first."

"You want to stop by?" Luke repeated.

"Yes. Luke, we're still friends, right?"

"Yeah," he answered slowly.

"And I would like to see my friends before I leave the country. I mean, if you don't want to see me-"

"No, you should stop by," Luke interrupted. 

"Alright. I will." They paused. "So, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Great."

"Bye Luke."

"Bye." He hung up and stared at the phone for a moment. The conversation had seemed so surreal. He hadn't thought about Rachel in awhile. He found it best to put her out of him mind when she wasn't around. But after the last time she left, he figured she wouldn't be back.

Luke shook his head, and went to cleaning up the apartment a little. He smiled briefly as he picked up laundry and CDs, wondering what Rachel would think of the recent changes.


	2. The Arrival

Author's Note: I hope everyone is enjoying this!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I own nothing…except the original storyline.

Every time the door to Luke's opened and the chime would sound, Luke would turn to see who was coming. And Jess had noticed every time that Luke's face would fall once he saw Andrew or Kirk walk in.

"Expecting someone?" Jess asked casually as he cleaned off the counter, while Luke was at the till.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, without looking up.

"You've been eyeing that door all morning," Jess said. 

"You're seeing things." Luke finally looked at Jess. "Shouldn't you be getting to school by now?"

"It's Sunday." Jess stared at Luke for a second. "Still want to get rid of me?"

"Go, but if I hear anything from Taylor-" Luke spat.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember." Jess handed his towel to Luke before walking towards the door. 

As he neared the exit, the door chime sounded as a tall woman with curly red hair walked in. She smiled as she looked around, then focused on Jess. "Oh, hi!"

Jess hesitated. "Hi," he said flatly, waiting for her to move so he could leave.

"You must be Jess. You have your mother's eyes," she said with a nod.

"Right," he said and looked back to Luke for help, but he wasn't behind the counter. "Can I help you?" he asked slowly as he looked back at her.

"I'm Rachel, we talked last night," she explained, taking his hand to shake. 

"Oh, Luke's friend," he said. 

"Yeah…um, where is he?"

"Probably in the kitchen. I'm sure he'll be out in a sec." Jess waited a beat. "Well, I have to get going."

"Oh, right. It was really nice meeting you, maybe we can catch up later!"

"Whatever," Jess answered casually as he made his way around her for the door.

Luke came back into the diner and saw her sitting at the counter, beaming once she saw him.

"Hey Luke," she said.

"Rachel, you're here," he said as if he was surprised.

"Well, I told you I would be," Rachel laughed. 

"Right, you did." He wasn't sure what to say, now that she was here. He'd be thinking all morning of the right thing to say, but all that came out was, "I have a special omelet now."

Rachel chuckled a little, and looked up at the sign. "That's great, Luke. But I'm not really hungry now."

"Oh. Okay. Um, where are your bags?"

"I dropped them off at my room at the inn before I came."

Luke felt like an idiot for asking. Of course Rachel had a room at the inn. Of course she didn't want to stay with him, especially with Jess there. "Right, good idea."

She glanced around the diner. "So, it's the late-morning lull, right? Could we maybe go upstairs and talk alone?"

"Sure. Uh, Caesar…I'll be upstairs," Luke said as he walked behind Rachel upstairs. Even Luke couldn't ignore the gossipy whispers from his customers.

"This place seems bigger," Rachel said as she followed Luke into the apartment. "Did you remodel?"

"Uh, yeah. Once Jess was here, it really wasn't big enough for the two of us, so I expanded a little," Luke explained.

Rachel smiled as she sat down in Luke's worn armchair. "I guess it can get a little cramped for two people."

Luke chuckled a little, still standing nervously. "Right."

"Luke, am I making you uncomfortable?" Rachel asked.

"No, of course not. Why would-"

"Well, you're making me uncomfortable, please sit down," she said. Luke managed to find his way to the couch. "Thank you."

"So, Brazil, huh?"

Rachel smiled. "Yeah, I'm doing a piece for National Geographic about the efforts to salvage the rainforest."

"Wow," Luke said, trying to sound enthusiastic. He did admire Rachel's ambition to travel and try new things. But, he also couldn't understand why she didn't want a comfortable apartment and stable business, as he had always been content with.

"I talked to Jess," Rachel said. "He seems like a great kid."

Luke chuckled sarcastically. "Wait until you really get to know him." He felt as if he shouldn't have said that once it was out. "Not that you should get to know him. You're probably better off if you don't. Jess has a way of causing trouble for those he's most acquainted with."

Rachel smiled again. "I'll keep that in mind. But, I was kind of hoping you would let me invade your kitchen and cook dinner for the two of you."

"Tonight?" he asked.

"Well, since I am only going to be here a few days, why not? Unless you two have plans-"

"No, tonight would be great," Luke said. He smiled a little. Ironic that he and Jess hadn't really sat down for a dinner together as long as he'd been there, most of the time they ate in shifts while working the diner.

"Alright. Well, I'll let you get back to work, I'm going to go get some things from the market," Rachel said. Luke nodded as he watched her walk out, and still had that odd surreal feeling that Rachel was actually back.

When Jess came back to the diner, he started to head upstairs, but Luke came out of the kitchen and caught him.

"You need to find somewhere else to be this afternoon," Luke said. 

"Why?" Jess asked as he shrugged Luke's hand off his arm.

"Because Rachel is making us dinner and she want it to be a surprise."

Jess's mouth twisted into a smirk. "Rachel is making us dinner?" he repeated. Luke rolled his eyes a little as Jess continued. "Does she know that we live above a diner which you own?"

"She wanted to do something nice."

"Why? Is the way to Luke Danes's heart through a home-cooked meal?"

Luke ignored Jess's attitude. "Just stay out until seven, alright?"

"Okay, Uncle Luke." He kept smirking to himself as he walked out to the streets of Stars Hollow. He was having a hard time imagining Luke being involved with a woman. Jess had made jokes about Luke and Lorelai, but he never actually pictured Luke in love. It was brightening up to be a most entertaining experience. 

Jess found a bench in the park and sat crossed legged with a book in his lap. As he read, he would occasionally scribble notes, and underline important text. He realized someone had sat down next to him when he heard a cough, and glanced over.

"Hi, Lane," he said slowly. She was staring straight ahead. "Can I help you?"

"No, this should only take a few minutes."

Jess kept waiting for an explanation. "Sorry, did I miss something?"

Lane finally looked at him, with a depressed look on her face. "I'm trying to get my mother to ground me. If she finds me with you, I'll be locked up for a good week."

Jess displayed his confusion. "Well, glad I could help, but why would you want to be grounded?"

Lane groaned with exasperation. "If I am grounded, there is a chance she won't make me go out with all those potential Korean doctor husbands. Or, that their families won't approve of their sons seeing a girl as reckless as me."

"Yeah, sitting on a park bench can be pretty wild."

"Besides, Rory told me to be nice to you."

"Rory did what?" Jess asked. 

"Well, she said she wanted you to have someone to talk to while she's away. She suggested we listen to some CDs or something. But I think she just wanted me to check up on you so I can tell her what you're doing." Lane looked at his book. "So, what are you doing?"

"Well, first of all, I don't need anyone to talk to or baby-sit me, and if Rory wants to know what I am doing, she knows where I live and that I have a phone," Jess said with a tone of bitterness. "And I'm doing homework."

Lane rolled her eyes as she twisted around to read the book cover. "Rory tried to get me to read "The Count of Monte Cristo" when we were eight, but I was sort of consumed with Sweet Valley High at the time," she explained.

"Wow, that's great," Jess said, trying to continue reading.

"Here she comes." Jess looked up and saw Mrs. Kim storming down the street and heard faint shrieks of what he assumed were Korean punishments. Lane turned to Jess. "Thanks for helping me out. And I'll tell Rory you're staying out of trouble."

Jess almost let a smile slip out. He watched Mrs. Kim drag Lane away, then couldn't help but laugh for a second.

"Alright, you can come up now!" Rachel called from the top of the stairs.

"Finally!" Jess moaned, standing up from a table in the diner. He gathered his books quickly as he hurried up the stairs. 

If there was one way Jess was like all other teenagers, Luke thought, it was his demanding stomach. When Luke reached the apartment door, he stopped as he came in. Rachel had, of course, cleaned up a little more. She had dusted and swept. There were three place settings on the table, which had a tablecloth.

"Where did you get all this?" Luke asked as he walked towards her.

"The market, I wanted to make everyone feel at home," she said, glancing at Jess as he came out of his room.

"Well, then you would have forgotten to buy hamburger along with the Hamburger Helper," Jess quipped as he went over to the stove and started dishing up.

"Hey," Luke warned.

"Why don't we all dig in?" Rachel suggested. "I'm starving too, I tried not to eat everything while I was cooking."

The three of them were seated at the kitchen table with their full plates. Jess was eating quickly, not paying attention to the two of them. Rachel was watching the both boys carefully, and she noticed Luke not eating much.

"Is everything alright?" she asked and he looked up from his plate.

"Oh yeah, it's great. I just…where'd you learn to cook?"

"Well, Luke, I did work in the diner a little when I was living here."

Jess sat up with attention. "You lived here?" he repeated, then glanced mockingly at Luke. "When was this?"

"None of your business," Luke said quickly.

"Oh come on, Luke," Rachel said as if it was no big deal. She turned towards Jess. "Earlier last year."

"And you actually put up with that single bed?" Jess asked. "That thing killed my back!"

Rachel chuckled. "I suppose I got used to it."

"So what happened between you two?" Jess asked curiously. "How come you're not Aunt Rachel?"

"Jess, shut up," Luke growled.

"I'm just making dinner conversation," Jess offered. "Like normal families do."

"Well, then why don't you tell us what you did in school last week?" Luke asked, hoping to beat Jess at his own game.

"Well, I passed my American Studies test; got out of my biology lab because dissecting frogs is inhumane; made seventy bucks writing book reports for other kids; and the marching band was practicing on the football field so I changed the timers to set off the sprinklers while they were there," he explained casually.

Rachel laughed lightly at the description, but stopped when she saw Luke wasn't laughing.

"Is that all?" Luke asked, closing his eyes a little.

"I also got Lane Kim grounded for a week," Jess smirked.

Luke sighed. "Are you done with your dinner?"

"Yep."

"Good. Go to your room."

Jess stood up and pushed in his chair, looking over at Rachel. "That was a great meal, and it was a blast getting to know you, ma'am. Let's do this again sometime." He went to his room and shut the door.

Rachel saw how exhausted Luke looked. "He's kind of a handful, huh?" she asked. He was resting his head in his hands.

"You have no idea. I'm probably going to get a call from the principal tomorrow, and he'll be kicked out of summer school, and then I'll be stuck with him in the diner for the next two months," Luke theorized.

"Why don't you send him home?" Rachel asked.

Luke snorted. "He's ten times better off here than with Liz. And he's even improved a little this summer."

"I never pictured you as the fatherly type, Luke," Rachel said, then smiled. "But I think I like it."

Luke saw how Rachel was looking at him and coughed, breaking their gaze. "It, um, was really nice of you to cook us dinner," he said.

"I don't want you to ask me to spend the night, Luke," she said and Luke could look at her again. "So where is Lorelai?"

"Why do you always have to bring up Lorelai? She's just-"

"A friend? Luke, you've said that so many times the words have lost all meaning. And I am just asking, seeing as she is your friend."

Luke stood up to clear the table. "She's out of town. With her new boyfriend."

"Oh, Luke, what did I tell you?" Rachel scolded as she carried her plate to the sink. "Is it serious?"

"They went out of town together," Luke repeated, omitting the fact that Lorelai had only know this guy a few days before leaving. It didn't change that she was gone, so there was no reason to mention it.

"Well, next time you see her-"

"Rach, I don't want to talk about Lorelai. We should talk about you."

"Why?"

"Because you're here and she's not!"

Rachel shook her head, picking up her bag from the couch "Luke, I don't ever want to feel like someone is just settling for me because I'm here. Goodnight." She walked out of the apartment, leaving Luke to hear her words echoing in his head.


	3. The Counsel

Disclaimer: The Stars Hollow gang doesn't belong to me, but I'm not making any money off of them so don't sue.

Luke kept waiting for Rachel to show up at the diner again the next day. He assumed she would be back, since she did come to town to see him.

Although he wouldn't have blamed her for driving to Hartford and taking the first flight out. Luke just didn't understand why Rachel was so caught up with Lorelai. It probably had something to do with the fact that she left Luke because she thought he was in love with Lorelai.

As he cooked in the diner's kitchen, Luke shook his head at the notion. He was not in love with Lorelai Gilmore. And she was especially not in love with him. Not if she could randomly leave town with a complete stranger if ever the occasion arose.

But a small voice in his head caused Luke to wonder what if Lorelai hadn't left? Would Luke have been so eager to see Rachel again? He dismissed the voice, rationalizing that he and Rachel had a long history and he didn't want to shut her out of his life. He'd tell her that, when she came to the diner…if she came to the diner.

When he walked out of the high school and started walking back to the diner, Jess noticed Rachel standing on the sidewalk near the dance studio, taking photos of one of Miss Patty's tumbling classes.

"Know them?" he asked as he came up behind her. She glanced back and smiled, lowering her camera.

"No, but Patty loves these kind of shots for advertising," she explained, raising the camera to her eye again.

"You're a professional?" he asked.

"You're certainly curious," she said. "What's on your mind?"

"Just being polite. I'll let you work." He turned to walk away, but Rachel was quickly at his side.

"I was just finishing up, can we talk?" she asked.

"Sure, we have that capability."

Rachel chuckled at his joke. "So, what do you think of Stars Hollow?"

Jess shrugged. "It's too clean, too wholesome, the people are fascists. But I guess you get used to it. Why'd you leave Luke?"

"Get to the point, why don't you," she retorted.

"I wasn't kidding about the Aunt Rachel thing, what happened?"

Rachel didn't know Jess well enough to know that this sort of sincere, serious manner he was displaying was unusual to see. She sighed and said quietly, "Well, which cliché do you want? I wanted more, we grew apart, there was another woman-"

"Luke cheated on you?" Jess exclaimed.

"No, not exactly. I just got the feeling that he would have been happier with someone else."

Jess nodded. "I think I know what you're talking about."

Rachel hesitated. "Um, can I ask if anything ever happened with…them?"

"No. I guess that's partially my fault."

"You?" she asked, looking confused.

He sighed. "It's a long story."

Rachel glanced at her watch. "What do you know, I have the time." She smiled, and Jess felt comfortable enough to tell her.

Without realizing it, Jess and Rachel had walked several times around and through the center of town as Jess talked and she listened. He hadn't been able to talk to anyone like this since the accident with Rory. Rachel would occasionally nod, but she hardly spoke.

"So that's it," he finished, then glanced over to see her face. "What do you think?"

"Jess, you certainly are your uncle's nephew," Rachel laughed a little. "Have you actually told Rory how you feel?"

"No. I can't. She has a boyfriend, she doesn't feel the same way-"

"How do you know unless you tell her?" she asked.

"I just know."

"But how do you know?" Jess didn't have an answer for Rachel, so she continued. "You need to tell her. Before it's too late. Can you contact her?"

"I could probably get her phone number from Lane," Jess said quietly. "You think I should?"

Rachel smiled. "Yes. The sooner, the better."

Jess nodded, reassuring himself. He glanced over at Kim's Antiques. "I'm going to talk to Lane; are you going to the diner?" He saw her smile fade. "What?"

"Oh, just, I have to get going, my flight leaves tonight and I have some-"

"You're not going to say goodbye Luke?" he asked.

"It's no big deal-"

"Come on, Rachel. You spend all afternoon convincing me I need to tell Rory before it's too late. Shouldn't you be heeding your own wisdom?" He paused. "I'll buy you a cup of coffee when I get over, to thank you."

She nodded, although still not sold on the idea of going to the diner again. She watched Jess cross the street towards Lane's house and started towards Luke's.

"Is this burger rare?" Kirk asked as Luke set down his plate.

"Kirk, all the burgers are medium-well, we've been over this," Luke sighed.

"I asked for rare," Kirk stated.

"And I told you all the burgers are medium-well, so putzes like you don't get sick from undercooked meat and put me out of business!" Luke shouted, and waited for Kirk to speak. "What? Don't you have something else to complain about?"

Kirk meekly picked up his glass. "The soda's gone flat."

Luke snatched the glass out of Kirk's hands, and was tempted to toss the drink in his lap. But he managed to turn away without any violence. 

Of course, the moment he turned, he was able to see Rachel walking in. He actually smiled, but she looked less enthusiastic. He walked over.

"Hey, I was hoping you'd come in," he said quickly. "Are you hungry, I'll get you something-" 

"Luke, no, thanks. I'm just waiting for Jess."

Luke was stunned for a second as he watched her sit at the counter. "For who?"

"Jess. Your nephew. Dark-haired kid in the Tool t-shirt," Rachel clarified when he still looked confused. 

"I'm sorry, why are you meeting Jess?"

"Because. We talked." 

Luke was suddenly worried. "Oh no, what did he say now?"

"Nothing bad, Luke. Give the kid some credit, you are raising him now. It was just a problem he was having with a girl."

"Oh, no."

Rachel laughed out of desperation. "God, stop saying that!"

"Look, you don't know the whole story. Jess would not be good for Rory-"

"But Rory is obviously good for Jess!" she interrupted. "What are you afraid of, Luke? That if they are a couple, Lorelai would definitely not want to be with you?"

"I never said that!" he argued.

"That's what Jess thinks. It's probably what Lorelai thinks. That after the accident, you didn't take her side so you don't love her as much as she imagined-"

"Lorelai doesn't imagine anything about me, except that I have her coffee ready each morning!"

"How do you know unless you tell her?"

"I just know!"

She shook her head. "So much alike." When she looked up, Luke saw how tired she was. "Look, tell Jess I'm sorry, but I had to get going." She stood up.

"No, Rachel, wait," Luke said as he caught her arm, and turned her to face him. "Apart from Liz and some of the wackos in this town, you have known me longer than anyone. And I don't want you to walk out of that door again, for good. I…I want to stay in touch."

"I thought Luke Danes was never one for letter-writing," Rachel said softly.

He smiled. "You're quoting a twenty-year-old kid, you know. That was…a long time ago, you know. Things change, people change." He chuckled. "Like you said, I'm raising a kid!" He saw that she was warming to him. "Please, just let me know where I can reach you."

Rachel paused. "You can send any letters to the National Geographic headquarters in DC, they'll be forwarding my mail every few weeks."

"Okay, I will write."

"Why?"

"Because…you stay in touch with friends." Rachel smiled, and leaned forward to hug Luke. He didn't mind it, even in a diner full of patrons.

Jess had some difficulty getting Mrs. Kim to let him see Lane for even a few minutes. He finally told her was interesting in joining a Christian youth group, so she left them alone.

"You do know that lying is a sin," Lane reminded.

"See, that is why I need a spiritual leader," he said.

"So, what do you want?"

"I was wondering if you could give me Rory's phone number."

Lane considered this for a moment. "Alright. But you better call her soon, since I am going to talk to her and if you haven't called her by then and I tell her that you were going to call but haven't and get her hopes up-"

"I think I get the idea; I will talk to her," Jess promised.

Jess went back to the diner, but didn't see Rachel. Or Luke for that matter. He went upstairs, and found Rachel and Luke sitting casually at the kitchen table, talking and smiling about something.

"Hey," he said slowly.

Rachel smiled as she stood up. "Hey. I wanted to ask for a rain check on the coffee, I'm running late." 

Jess walked over, nodding. "Thanks again."

"It was very nice to meet you, Jess," she said before hugging him. Jess glanced at Luke, who seemed rather amused at Jess's uncomfortable look. Rachel leaned back. "Good luck," she said, then started for the door.

"I'm giving Rachel a ride to the airport," Luke said. "You do your homework."

Jess rolled his eyes quickly. "Whatever."

"Well, whatever, but some mail came for you today." Jess regarded Luke's face carefully before he was left alone in the apartment. He went to the counter, where Luke's assortment of bills and junk mail accumulated.

Jess picked up the postcard with a picture of the Capitol building. He flipped it over, knowing he would see Rory's handwriting, but still unsure. The only message was 'Oh, I should never have come, never. I'm here against my better judgment.' 

He smiled as he read the quote, then glanced around the apartment. He picked up a pen and a piece of scratch paper where he quickly scribbled a note to leave on the kitchen table.

Luke came in with a pizza. "Jess! I got mushrooms on your half!" he called towards Jess's room. "Come on, it's getting cold!" Luke set the pizza down on the table and noticed a slip of white paper on the table.

'Liz called, wanted me to visit. Taking the bus. Back by Thursday night, latest.' 

Luke would have been the first to point out how odd it was that Liz wanted to see Jess, since her phone calls were so random to begin with. But the first thing Luke realized was how alone he was feeling.

The phone rang, and for a second, Luke was worried that something had happened to Jess. He jumped up to answer it. "Hello…Lorelai?"

Author's Note: Did I leave yall in suspense? Don't worry, I have more stories ready to continue the series. I am going to try to have them all written and posted by the Season 3 premiere on Sept. 24 so you won't have to wait too long.


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